On the Train
by sunny-bear
Summary: Nico is bothered by some putz that got lost on the train.


Nico narrowed his eyes, scanning the subway car for an empty seat. It was 5:30, in New York City, right smack dab in the middle of rush hour. The search was futile, as all the seats were full, or people had bags sitting in the seats next to them, and Nico didn't feel like making a fuss over it. It was a bit of a dick move, he thought. Instead of taking a seat, he made a beeline towards the nearest handhold to grab. Nico thought that this was preferable to sitting in one of the seats, anyway. Sitting in a subway seat meant you were also closer to the ground, and in turn, the overwhelming pee smell that most of the trains in the city had.

The spot he chose to stand was between two people. One was a very tired looking business man. He was blond, and was dressed very sharply. Now that Nico got a good look at him, he was probably more of an intern than a business man. He was sort of young. He looked like he was about to fall asleep. The other person was an older lady, wearing a fuchsia sweatsuit and lipstick that matched. She was a little overwhelming to look at. Nico had gotten on the subway at 116th Street, and needed to get off at Canal, so there was a bit of a ride in front of him.

Of course, things went wrong. The train had to wait at the Houston station for forty minutes. The Canal station was so close that Nico could have walked there in three-fourths of that time, but the doors of the train were closed, so there was no way that was happening. He had to get to dinner with his sister, and at the rate this was going, he would probably be having the remnants of the Pringle can in his dorm room for dinner instead of the nice SoHo dinner he had made reservations for.

To top off all of this, the sleepy businessman/intern/sharply dressed young man was completely awake, and was acting awfully cheerful about the whole situation. Outside of the stuffy train, Nico might have found it bearable. Maybe even endearing. But they were on a stuffy train, and it was really, really annoying. But an annoyingly chipper young man was better than a sleepy young man that would fall asleep on Nico's shoulder. Its a mean thing to say, but Nico hated it when people fell asleep on him in the subway. Even if the guy was kind of cute, in that bland superhero kind of way, Nico wouldn't have liked it.

When the garbled voice over the subway's speaker system announced that they would be in the station for a while, after a short bout of groaning, the not-so-sleepy guy turned around and faced Nico. He smiled. He had a little scar on the left side of his upper lip, and it curved like a crescent moon when he directed the grin at him.

"Looks like we're going to be here for a while," he said.

Nico took out his phone, pulling up Bejeweled instead of responding. But the guy wasn't deterred.

"My name is Jason," he said.

"The answer to a question I never asked," Nico said.

Theguy didn't say anything for a little bit after that._ Maybe he picked up that I don't want to talk_, Nico thought. _Who did that sort of thing on the train, anyway?_

Unfortunately, he was proved wrong.

"What's your name?" Jason asked.

Nico slid his phone back into his pocket, and raised his eyebrows at the man. "You aren't from around here, are you?" he asked, instead of answering the question.

Jason grimaced. "That obvious, huh? I'm here for a job interview." He paused for a second. Nico assumed he was done talking, but then Jason started speaking again. "I mean, its my dad's company, so I'm definitely getting the job, its just a formality. I'm actually from California." Nico was suddenly imagining the guy shirtless on some nameless, sunny beach. Where did that come from? "What gave it away?"

"What?" Nico asked. He was brought out of his beach babe musings.

"That I'm not from New York?"

"Oh." Nico stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "For one, you are actually talking to someone, and being sociable, on the train. No one does that."

"Really?"

"Yup. Also, you keep smiling at strangers. Don't do that."

"Got it."

"That's about it, I guess. Otherwise you're passingly normal."

Jason's face adopted a questioning look. "Thank you?" He said it like a question.

"No problem." Nico took out his phone again, about to text Hazel to let her know that he was probably going to be late, but Jason said something to him. He didn't really catch it, so he said, "Hm?"

"I asked, where were you headed? Like, before the train broke down."

"It didn't break down," Nico said. "Its just stopped so the other trains on the Red One track can get ahead. But I was heading to dinner."

"Were you going with someone?" Jason said that a little quickly. And nervously.

Nico nodded. "With my sister. Looks like I'm going to be pretty late, though."

"Yeah, probably. I'm headed towards Upper East Side."

Nico laughed.

Jason pursed his lips. "What's so funny?"

"You're on the wrong train, buddy."

Jason's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, you're heading in the wrong direction."

"Well, how do I get back to that part of the city?"

"Um." Nico wracked his brains for a minute. "Well, you're going to want to get off at South Ferry, make sure you're in the first couple of cars to do that. Then walk to the nearest Green Line stop. I'm not sure which one it is."

"Well, that's a lot of help…" Jason trailed off. "What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't say."

"Oh." Jason looked down at his shoes. "So what's your name."

"Nico."

"Thanks for the help Nico."

"No problem."

That was when the voice garbled over the PA again. Nico couldn't understand what was being said, but since the train started moving, he assumed they were saying the track was clear.

As the train moved forward, and after a minute or so, pulled into the Canal Street station.

Nico looked up at Jason. "Well, this is my stop. I'm going to see if I can still get some food."

He turned towards the door, but a hand grabbed his shoulder. It was Jason's.

"Before you leave," Jason said. He was blushing furiously. "Could I have your number?" His mouth trembled a little bit before he said, "You know. In case I get lost on the Subway again."

Nico gave him a genuine smile. "Sure."


End file.
